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Bill would shift saltwater oversight to DNR from General Assembly

ATLANTA – The General Assembly would give up its management of saltwater fishing to the Board of Natural Resources under a wide-ranging bill drafted by the Department of Natural Resources.

DNR Commissioner Mark Williams, a former legislator, met Friday morning with members of the new, bipartisan Coastal Caucus urging them to support the bill.

DNR’s Spud Woodward, director of its Coastal Resources Division, told the senators and representatives from coastal districts that the measure aims to speed up modifications in fishing regulations to more quickly react to environmental changes.

Currently, the board oversees 17 species of fish, but eight others fall under the General Assembly. That means the law has to be changed every time the fishing limit increases or falls as a result of the changing fish population and health.

“This fragmented approach oftentimes is an impediment to the department regarding new information and rapidly changing conditions in the decision-making process,” he said. “... We have situations where we have rapidly deteriorating conditions, and we are not able to react quickly enough.”

The bill awaits introduction, and the members of the caucus had few questions so far.

The caucus is a new organization, assembled by Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah. Its first meeting was last month in Brunswick where members discussed cooperating with Florida on the development of a port in St. Marys to serve agricultural shippers.

The purpose of the caucus is to provide a place to discuss issues dealing strictly with the coast, he said.

“Clearly, the rest of the state won’t have much of an opinion on what the Department of Natural Resources does down on the coast,” he said. “... We all think alike on the coast. It’s not political.”

Other issues include the transportation sales tax for that region, the ports and the deepening of the shipping channel in the Savannah River.

GET INVOLVED

Public hearing on the proposed change in saltwater-fishing regulations: